ESTCube 2

ESTCube 2 [University of Tartu]

ESTCube-2 is a 3U CubeSat built by Tartu University's Estonian Student Satellite Foundation.

The primary goal of the ESTCube-2 project is to provide undergraduate and high school students with hands-on experience in the development of space technology.

On board the ESTCube-2, four innovative technologies are being tested:

• Plasma brake technology is being tested in the Earth's ionosphere to remove the satellite from orbit at the end of its mission.
• Advanced satellite on-board systems and bus testing. A miniature star tracker, flywheels, a cold gas thrust module, and a radio experiment to determine the satellite's position are included, in addition to conventional systems.
• Tartu Observatory's two Earth observation cameras are being tested. The cameras are designed to measure the NDVI vegetation index on Earth and operate at two different wavelengths.
• The satellite is putting thin film anti-corrosion materials to the test.

The satellite was completed in the first half of 2022 and was launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on a shared Vega launch vehicle in October 2023. ESTCube 2 failed to deploy.